Favorite Channel Strip (Console) Plugin for Analog-ish Vibe?

[tommyzai]

A free one that beats most of the paid ones:
https://youtu.be/20tqmkQ6TCs

What is it? Some kind of modular channel strip?

[0degree]

A free one that beats most of the paid ones:

https://youtu.be/20tqmkQ6TCs

Looks interesting, anybody tried plugins from this guy?

[El°HYM]

The Fuse Audio one seems good.

[Danilo Villanova]

A free one that beats most of the paid ones:
https://youtu.be/20tqmkQ6TCs

What is it? Some kind of modular channel strip?

Yes, you can route the different modules with cables. It has room reverb, advanced paning options, tilt eq, an analyzer to see what the eq is doing and 64 different emulated channels with slightly different curves.

[Danilo Villanova]

A free one that beats most of the paid ones:

https://youtu.be/20tqmkQ6TCs

Looks interesting, anybody tried plugins from this guy?

I've been trying them with good results in Reaper, Windows 10. Stable, low cpu, and sound good.

[inkwarp]

so much info here ( especially from jamcat) that I just can't absorb. I struggle to try and learn how to use a compressor still. If anything I do sounds ok ( most don't ), it's probably a fluke. Having two mixes setup is just too much for me.
Crucially, I don't really know what a desk sounds like anymore. Perhaps using channel strips won't really help me. For a long time I made stuff without plugins ( I would always try to figure out the best 'sound' from the source. I don't use limiters or have a master channel. I still can't even grasp buses. It's impossible to figure out the order FX should be and things like that. It's too esoteric for me and I don't think there are enough hours in the day to ever get good at it. Only speaking for myself...

[sonidomolino]

+1 for the Fuse Audio Labs VCS-1 as (jmho) the most complete and versatile CS if you're not looking for a specific emulation.
https://fuseaudiolabs.com/#/pages/product?id=301012112

DAW templates fully loaded with a consistent UX across all channels makes for better workflow here rather than a flea market of random vintage emulations. ymmv.

that being said, the template with the Lindell Neve gets used on a regular basis. just a great fit for the material i work with.

[jens]

so much info here ( especially from jamcat) that I just can't absorb.

Don't worry - he lost me halfway through as well - personally I don't think there is a practical reason for such a convoluted setup. If it suits him then more power to him, of course, but as for myself I'd much rather make music instead.

[inkwarp]

so much info here ( especially from jamcat) that I just can't absorb.

Don't worry - he lost me halfway through as well - personally I don't think there is a practical reason for such a convoluted setup. If it suits him then more power to him, of course, but as for myself I'd much rather make music instead.

Yes. Mustn't lose sight of what this is all for. :phones:

[jens]

Yes, exactly.

[jamcat]

The reason I started sending to a 2nd set of channels actually has to do with how crosstalk works when analog summing with Studio One's Mix Engine Effects.

In order to keep crosstalk out of my ampsims, I have to send the amped audio out to a parallel channel, so that the top of the signal chain already has been through the ampsim. Otherwise you get ghost vocals and drums coming out of your amps, and direct guitar bleeding into the mix. Having the 2nd mixer after tape sims keeps the crosstalk only in the mixing console, and out of the preamps and tape. If you get crosstalk before tape sim, it sounds like print-through.

So I had to create a parallel mixer anyways. Delineating these mixers between recording and mixing—which typically happens months apart, often on different consoles in different studios—was just a natural evolution.

Also, splitting processing up over more parallel channels distributes it far more efficiently over multiple CPU cores.

I created a template a long time ago that sets up the two mixers with ampsims, channel strips, and tape sims in place. So it's not actually impractical at all. It simply gives me 2 mixer views, one with models of all the stuff you'd use during recording, which feeds into the other that has all the stuff you'd use during mixing. It's not that complicated, and it gives me the sound and the workflow I want. I'm very interested in the historical aspects of recording, so developing this process has been a huge learning experience for me, and it fits in with what I do, stylistically.

It's the same philosophy that Universal Audio fosters with Unison, LUNA, and all of their fully immersive models. Except I'm doing it in Studio One.

[jens]

Getting a headache...

You do what you must do - but I certainly strongly advice against any of that - unless you are a person who thrives with much complexity (most of us humans however don't).

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

I never understood the praise for the TG12345 - I find its "saturation" absolutely unuseable - it's either nothing at all
or some of the nastiest clipping I've ever heard.


agreed. That function is useless. The character is still there though.
 

[MogwaiBoy]

TBProAudio's is the one I have my heart set on - but do not currently own.

Otherwise loving Sonimus Satson CS and A-Console (not a full channelstrip but summing/crosstalk/saturation with pass filters, so is an awesome utility overall).

Pass on the Brainworx SSL's but the Lindell's are great value on deep sale.

[La Mato]

If you want a barebone vintagey channelstrip with great sound I would recommend the Apogee ECS Symphony Channelstrip. Has a lovely softness to it. A HPF, 3 eq bands, a simple compressor and great saturation. Could be a bit on the CPU-hungry side a bit depending on your specs and what DAW you use. Works fine Reaper, not so much in Studio One.